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The Best Lawyer in a One-Lawyer Town: A Memoir

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I can't say how many political biographies/autobiographies I've read (suffice to say, a lot!), but a few years ago I grew tired of the genre. All too often, these books contain a lot of smug congratulatory prose, assuring the reader that politician X's impact on the nation was unsurpassed.

Not so with Bumpers' book. I was instantly struck by the genuine humility of the author. Bumpers speaks from the heart, and in a very personable manner (I often felt that he was relating this whole memoir to me personally over a cup of coffee). Furthermore, his memoir does not just focus on his political career.

The first half of the book covers Bumpers life before politics. Weaving together dozens of personal anecdotes, Bumpers takes the reader through life in a small Arkansas town in the depression era. These stories are heart-wrenching, and yet often humorous. Naturally, Bumpers ties these sad tales into his liberal, welfare-state political views. And yet, he's neither preachy nor overbearing. Readers may or may not agree with Bumpers' politics; but they cannot deny his sincerity.

The chapters directly relating to Bumpers' political career offer a brief yet fascinating look at recent Arkansas history. One learns of the state's tough progression away from segregation and of two less than stellar governors, Orval Faubus and Winthrop Rockefeller. No doubt Bumpers is a little biased here (since he ran against both of them), but he does not denigrate them (or anyone else) for having different views than him.

The last chapters briefly discuss Bumpers' 24 year Senate career; and end, appropriately, with his eloquent defense of President Clinton during the impeachment trial. This speech doesn't read as well as it was spoken, says Bumpers; but it reads pretty well at that! I was too sickened by the whole charade to watch any of the impeachment trial at the time. So Bumpers speech was new for me and only reinforced my beliefs on the issue.

All in all, Bumpers book is witty, mostly light-hearted and never boring. Whether you're looking for a brief look at life in the south during the depression or want to know more about this fascinating man, pick it up.

Dale Bumpers is 10 tears older than I, but given that rural Arkansas small town life was similar from the turn of the century until about to mid 1950s, our boyhood experiences were not disimilar. Bumpers tells his story anecdotally, the way he speaks. It is written with a sharp wit, frequently pointed at himself. It is intelligent, articulate and exactly what one would expect from one of, if not the very best of this nation's senators in the second half of the 20th century. Bumpers was always honest, usually truthful - always hard for a lawyer :-) - and always respectful in his dealing with his constituents. Bumpers, like his predessor, William Fulbright, never suffered fools lightly, and given that he was surrounded by them toward the end of his senate career, it is easy to see why he ended his senate career as a relatively young man - by senate standards. Bumpers never directly answers a question that many who followed his career always wondered about - why did he never run for president? - given that he would have been an exceptionally attractive democratic candidate. One hint he gives us is that he never enjoyed being governor. He always said that one reason he didn't run at one propituous time was that he had a bad knee. However, given the fact that his greatest political model, FDR, who had consumed American politics during his formative years and who he once saw on a presidential trip through Arkansas, (...couldn't even walk" which is a paraphrase of the name of one of his chapters) was handicapped to a far greater extent, it seems odd that a man of Bumper's physical and moral courage never made the race. It may have been that he was unwilling to spend the time and make the moral compromises necessary to raise the obscene amonts of money necesary to make a legitimate bid for a major party nomination, or he may have been put off by the vicious nature of presidential campaigning that developed during the last 20 years, or it may have been that he just refused to put his family under the national media spotlight in which every flaw and weakness is exploited by a modern press following the orders of an every decreasing number of usually right wing owners, producers and publishers. Whatever the reason, the nation lost a master politician who might have changed to course of history. This is his story in his words. A wonderful read. wfh

Almost the entire first half of this bio deals with Bumpers youth in Depression-era rural Arkansas. Written in a graceful and page tuning style it captures the essence of a different time and space in our country's history.
I would rank it right up there with Russell Bakers GROWING UP.

Dale Bumpers recounts his formative years with honesty, verve, and a wonderful sense of humor. Sparing us a blow-by-blow account of his years as an influential member of the United States Senate, Bumpers instead gives us the gift of riding along for the journey as he looks back on his life and remembers the lessons he learned from his father in Depression-era Arkansas. We enjoy a remarkable whirlwind tour -- through high school, college and law school; through tragedy; through the years of simultaneously serving as city attorney, family hardware-store operator, lawyer, husband, and father; through the many often-zany legal cases and clients with whom Bumpers worked; and, finally, through the decision of the young, smart, and genuine country lawyer -- inspired by his father, who comes across as a thoughtful, caring, and noble man, to commit to a life of serving others -- to launch a long-shot campaign to become the Governor of Arkansas. This is not a book for Bumpers to tout his influence on policy in Arkansas, although I discovered later that he was the only Arkansas Governor of the twentieth-century who, among Arkansas political scientists, achieved the rank of "Great." (Other Arkansas governors included David Pryor and, of course, a young man named Bill Clinton.) Nor is it a bogged-down account of Bumpers' years in the Senate, although he was for twenty-four years among the most revered members of that body. Nor is it a rumination on the trends of the times or the national character, even though Dale Bumpers was repeatedly encouraged to run for president and declined in 1976, 1984, and finally for the last time in 1988. Indeed, in an age where politicians discuss their political accomplishments and ambitions at length in their memoirs, with a cloying sense of self-centeredness that encourages one to forswear the genre entirely, Bumpers never discusses the intense-but-always-fleeting power struggles that define Washington, or why he always decided against running for the presidency. Instead, the book is a reflection a long, sometimes-bumpy, but always satisfying public and private life, full of vivid images, memorable episodes, and wonderful stories.

What makes the book so appealing is its utter lack of pretense, Bumpers' genuine and unfailing respect for those who might wander across his book in the local library and spend a few moments with it. It is little wonder he always won re-election in Arkansas, despite the fact that his views tended to be more liberal than those of the state as a whole. ("Do you want to know why you always thought I was more liberal than I said I was?" he recounts asking an assembled group back home in Arkansas, as he was finishing up his last term in the U.S. Senate. "Because I was!") In an age of insta-political memoirs, Bumpers mentioned that it took him nearly four years to write the book, and it shows.

Given our disenchantment with politics these days, we are constantly looking for a man on a white horse to save our political culture from itself. One wonders, however, what our potential would be if we moved past the cult of political celebrity, and searched for a leader who was confident but genuine, talented and humble, and most of all, good and decent, with an integrity and a generosity of spirit that reminds us of the best about ourselves. In an age where we are all looking for the next John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton (Mitt Romney? John Edwards? Barack Obama?), you may, after reading this memoir, wonder whether we may better be served by searching for the next Dale Bumpers.

Dale Bumpers might be seen as a mixture of one part Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), one part Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), and a half part Abe Lincoln (at least he got the self-deprecating part).

In his memoir, Bumpers presents his life in wry strokes from Depression-era Arkansas through the Clinton impeachment trial. When focused upon the Arkansas of his youth, Bumpers' writing rings with spry anecdotes and the merriment of a man who can laugh at what was once a scandal and present rural life with a fine eye.

Unfortunately, the broad brush strokes of his gubernatorial and senate career reeks of sterilized gaps (or perhaps, hatchets slyly buried). Bumpers becomes jaded, cynical, and cautious in writing about Washington powerbrokers, condensing his memoirs into a string of dinner parties and public engagements lacking the same confessional quality. After multiple terms in the Senate, Bumpers recalls only two meaningful debates - Panama Canal, and the battle to save the Manassas Battlefield from becoming a shopping center.

Bumpers' memoir is worth reading for the depiction of the rural South and a profile of a real-life career of a grassroots lawyer who did good and made good in the first half. However, concluding with Bumpers speech on behalf of fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton during the impeachment trial is anticlimactic, and the latter section begs for the same treatment as his earlier, less public life.

This autobiography by the former Senator and governor is a breezy read that primarily deals with his upbringing and professional accomplishments prior to being elected governor. It is a collection of anecdotes that shaped his life with some straight up political stories in the last third of the book or so. Bumpers was obviously a hard working, humble man who also knew he was a little too liberal for his state but won people over with his personality and commitment to common values. Bumpers came up in politics and politics was heading down. He was a first term governor during the Nixon Watergate years and left the Senate just before Clinton's impeachment trial. Those were not auspicious times for public servants (though it has only gotten worse), but Bumpers stands out.

Senator Bumpers' memoir is truly a great read. The Senator is very candid about politics, honest about his life, and philosophical without trying to justify his actions while in office. In a day where it seems every politician running for office feels the need to write a book, Senator Bumpers has taken the time to write one after leaving public office.
On a personal note, the Senator took time out of his day to autograph a copy for me on the occasion of my retirement from the Army.
This is a very good book.

This is an exceptionally excellent book, replete with snatches of humor and wise and poignant thoughts. It is indeed a memoir rather than an autobiography, and does not dwell much on the author's illustrious career as governor and senator. The best chapters are toward the end, when he tells of his crowning achievemnet after he left the Senate and gave his superlative speech in the trial in the Senate of Bill Clinton. I am glad he set that speech out in an appendix since I had forgotten just how able it was. This book is a great book, and one can recomment it unreservedly.

The Best Lawyer In A One-Lawyer Town is the personal and professional memoir of a dedicated politician, who grew up in the poverty of Depression-era Arkansas yet went on to contribute to his nation and now recounts his life with a wry twist of humor. Humble beginnings, southern charm, family dedication, and a drive to serve pervade the pages of this genuinely witty and warmly related reminiscence. A truly enjoyable autobiographical life story as well as an inside look at the gusty drive to enter and succeed in the fickle worlds of law and politics, The Best Lawyer In A One-Lawyer Town is as entertaining as it is informative.

Great read by someone who knows how to paint pictures with words. Dale Bumpers is a true public servant, not a politician out for fame, ego, money, and sex. I first became aware of him in a lengthy newspaper article some decades ago that gave deep background coverage to his spoken eloquence and mastery of issues, beyond that even of most Senators. I have wanted him to run for President ever since, and I think his speech in defense of Bill Clinton shows what a loss we have endured in not having Dale Bumpers as a President, particularly in light of the actions of our current President.

The Senator describes in his book how Arkansas was always competing with Mississippi in being at the bottom of the lists of good things, and at the top of lists of bad things, and how he strove to change that. I was born and raised in Louisiana, and remember experiencing the same thing with Mississippi, but don't remember seeing Arkansas on those lists frequently. I consider that to be a testament to the Senator's success in changing things in Arkansas, as he was born about 1926, and I was born in 1963.

Lets hope a generation of Americans finds this work as inspiring as the author found the words of Harry Truman to him: "You should always remember that the people elected you to do what you think is right. They're busy with their own lives, and they're depending on you.... Get the best advice you can find on both sides of the issues, pick out the one that makes the most sense to you, and go with it.... Secondly, trust people with the truth. Politicians always have a hard time telling people the truth, rather than telling them what they think they'd like to hear. People can handle the truth, and you can trust `em with it." (p. 226).